5 Questions Most People Ask When Considering a Solar Photovoltaic System

Photovoltaics are becoming more an more popular with householders wishing to reduce their carbon footprint and save on energy bills. We ask 5 questions most people have when considering a solar photovoltaic system.

Where on my home will the PV panels be installed? As we are in the Northern Hemisphere, a south facing roof will receive the most sunlight - the perfect home for solar has a roof orientated somewhere between South West and South East, with a 30 degree slope and no shading. For homes that do not have a south facing roof, east-west splits are quite common, and will produce roughly 85% of the energy a south facing roof will. EvoEnergy's engineers will assess your home, help choose the panels and design a bespoke panel layout, so you can be assured you will use your roof space to its full potential.

Is my home in a suitable location for solar PV? Solar PV is appropriate for homes in most urban and rural locations in the UK. The amount of energy received from the sun does vary across the UK - but it not by a large amount. The most important thing to watch out for when considering installing a PV system is shade: beware of any trees, buildings and other obstructions, lying to the South.

What happens if a PV system is only partially shaded? Even if only one panel of a PV system is shaded, then the performance of the whole array will drop. This is because the panels are connected in series. The shaded cell can not produce as much current as the unshaded panels, creating a bottleneck. To protect the panel, bypass diodes drop the current through the connected panels to the level of the shaded panel, reducing the power of the whole system. How much will partial shading reduce the PV system output? Modest shading will reduce the power of the whole array by about 20%. Significant shading will reduce the power of the array by about 40%. For example, a 14 x 180W system would produce 2100 kWh in unshaded conditions, and 1680 kWh in modestly shaded conditions.

What can be done about partial shading in a PV system? If partial shading occurs, then a smaller system may generate more electricity than a larger one. For example, a 16 panel system that has shading will produce 1921kWh per year, whereas a 14 panel system with no shading will produce 2100kWh/year. So, it may be better to opt for a system that completely avoids shade than to install a larger system that results in a few shaded panels.

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com